Choi Chow

Workplace Design Trends 2020: Comfort & Creativity

Building the best workplace experience for your people is the driving force behind this year’s workplace design trends.

There’s no doubt about it; a sea change in workplace design trends is coming. After decades of bland, disconnected, tech-first offices, many companies now believe that sparking innovation requires welcoming, humanized spaces. And there’s plenty of evidence to back that belief!

In the coming year, nearly 30% of American employees will work remotely for at least part of the week. Many workers appreciate the flexibility that virtual connectivity offers them, but there are many hidden drawbacks. For starters, remote workers are forced to rely more heavily on screens and devices than their in-office counterparts, creating feelings of disconnection among team members. Some off-site workers find that boundaries between work and personal time become blurry, and when employees feel overburdened or overwhelmed, the risk of burn-out increases. Working remotely has many advantages, but its main disadvantage is the toll it can take on employee morale.

Another workplace design trend that’s now showing its dark side is increased automation of processes. Automation often results in more efficient workflow and reduced costs, freeing up employees to focus on more creative or strategic tasks. But just like remote work, it’s got some drawbacks. Recent polls have shown that 48% of American workers believe that new workplace technology has done more harm than good. Employees need to feel valued for their very human contributions to your organization, and automation can make them feel superfluous. Streamlined workflows only benefit the company if there are engaged, happy employees on-hand to put them into practice. Companies are now realizing that more tech may lead to fewer people.

Both of these factors drive the newest workplace trends for 2020, all of which focus on cultivating comfortable, flexible, and creative environments that will make your employees eager to come to work.

1. The Multisensory Office

When you walk into any workplace, you should immediately feel a sense of well-being. The furnishings should be laid out to flow naturally, the colors should delight your eye, and you should feel welcomed and invigorated. But how many times have you entered an office that’s dark and cluttered, or smells like some mysterious industrial chemical? When considering workplace design, experts have found that it’s crucial to account for all five senses of your human workforce. Everything from eye-friendly lighting to delightfully soft upholstery to uplifting aromatherapy scents can enhance a space. As we shift our focus away from machinery and computers and toward designing for people, we should remember all the senses that make us human.

A workplace design trend that leverages multisensory attributes is biophilic design, which focuses on reconnecting people to nature. To incorporate this tactic into your own office, consider how you can make indoor spaces feel more like the outdoors. Anything from a living garden wall to allowing fresh air and natural light into your common areas will do the trick. Some companies embrace biophilic design by creating outdoor meeting spaces like courtyards or gardens. In the absence of real nature, using organic shapes and earthy color palettes can evoke the natural world.

2. Transformable Spaces

It’s no longer feasible—or even desirable—for a company to pay for real estate that only serves one function. Especially among start-ups and other small, innovation-driven businesses, workplace design trends are moving toward creating and leveraging multi-use spaces within the office. The sharing economy, collaborative culture, and a collective desire for sustainability all contribute to this new efficiency-driven mindset. Transformable spaces also contribute to the activity-based working movement, which encourages employees to move about the office, changing spaces to suit the work they’re doing at the moment.

Now your conference room might double (or triple) as a lunch retreat or after-work event space. Modular cubicles might be conjoined to create a larger brainstorming area. Designated coworking spaces can create efficiencies of scale for employees who work remotely part-time. And a group of wheeled tables in your conference room allows you to rearrange the configuration to best accommodate the task at hand — from brown-bag brainstorming to team-building exercises.

This is one of the simplest workplace design trends to implement. With help from a company specializing in workplace moves, adds, and changes (MAC), you can create new multi-use spaces quickly, easily, and at relatively low cost.

3. Thinking in Transition

Steve Jobs famously designed Apple’s offices with restrooms at the ends of floors so that his employees would have to walk a bit during their workdays. The extra exercise is a bonus, of course, but the real payoff is increased transitional thinking time. Research indicates that when we are on the move, we’re more open to serendipitous encounters and prone to flashes of creativity. This is why breakthrough inspirations often appear when we travel through a passageway between two fixed spaces. Putting ourselves in dynamic “passage” mode also creates a more relaxed state of mind, allowing us to think outside that proverbial box. This is especially helpful to knowledge workers. This subset of employees truly benefits from the automation of repetitive tasks since it frees them up to move around, think, create, and innovate. Otherwise, they’re stuck at their desks, sedentary, stagnant, and gradually increasing their risk of various health issues.

This new interest in creating spaces that promote transitional thinking stems from a cross-industry desire to redefine work itself. A team of MIT researchers has pointed out that this shift in thinking is crucial, saying, “Integrating job redesign with work redefinition makes the goal of work a dynamic destination—one that expands both financial value for the company and creates dynamic new sources of value and meaning for the customer.” In light of these findings, many leaders are no longer obsessed with task completion, choosing instead to focus on creating new sources of value for customers and the business. Those new sources might appear in the relaxed mind of a middle manager while she’s strolling from one end of the building to another! And companies hoping to capitalize on transitional thinking may intentionally create longer hallways, curved ramps, or other extended walkways that force employees to press “pause” on execution and dip into their hidden stories of inspiration.

4. Kitchen Table Creativity

At home, the kitchen table is the epicenter of the house. We don’t just eat there — we talk, we play games, we pay bills, we share. Having a similarly community-centric, multipurpose gathering area in the workplace can replace the stuffy conference room and encourage workers to bring their true selves to the table. (Literally!) Researchers have found that functional, group-sized amenities promote a sense of camaraderie and belonging, both of which promote collaboration and innovation among colleagues.

Another workplace design trend that taps into the power of communal gathering areas is “resimercial” design — combining commercial efficiency with the comforts of home. Office lobbies are no longer sterile and sleek, they’re brimming with cushy couches, quirky beanbag chairs, and boldly colored artwork. Conference rooms and cubicles are giving way to huddle areas, lounges, and café seating. Just switching out the furniture in your common area to make it feel more warm and inviting can change the vibe of your entire workspace. Resimercial design is also a fantastic way to reflect your brand values in a concrete, visual way to every single visitor who crosses your threshold.

Become a People-Friendly Brand

2020 is the year to take a fresh look at your employees and figure out how your work environment can best support and motivate them. When you do so, you’ll likely improve teamwork; increase satisfaction, creativity, and productivity; and even attract and retain more top-notch talent. By expressing your company culture with an enhanced workspace, you’ll be setting yourself apart as a desirable place to work.

Because Corovan is California’s leader in engineering workplace change — including ongoing facilities support, business moving, and storage — we can help you envision and create the perfect office for your unique team.

by Choi Chow

2019 Workplace Change Strategies Round Up

It’s almost 2020. Let this top ten list of workplace change strategies inspire you.

Our favorite ideas from 2019 will keep your business moving in 2020. Reflect and renew with these proven strategies that cover everything from employee engagement and motivation to improved office spaces and workplace wellness opportunities that actually work.

1 | Serve up a Workplace Makeover

Give employees a place they’re excited to be every day. A revamped workplace will engage creativity and enhance mission buy-in. And as any great company knows, when you care about your team, they care back.

Read more: Workplace Design Trends Forecast 2019

2 | Reflect Your Office Culture

Can your workplace culture be seen and felt by employees and visitors alike? Maybe it’s time to understand what your culture looks like today, so you can make sure it’s a reflection of your values. Learn your culture’s traits—is it dynamic or stable, for example—then tag your facilities manager to revamp the office decor and layout accordingly.

Read more: The Way to Your Employees’ Hearts Is Through Your Office Design

3 | Give Employees More Room

Contrary to popular belief, open floor plans don’t always lead to better collaboration. A lack of personal space often has the opposite effect. Team members miss their privacy, which in turn can lower communication and productivity. Find new ways to create space, whether it's adding cubicles, activity-based zones, or other layouts.

Read more: How to Move On From Your Open Plan Office

4 | Rethink Reception

You only get one chance to make a first impression, which is why everything you’re communicating about your business needs to start there. What’s the reception area saying? You want your furniture and motif to convey the professional image guests can be wowed by. If that’s not happening, maybe it's time for a redesign.

Read more: Say Hello to the Modern Reception Area

5 | Respect Generational Differences

Modern work culture is invested in respecting diversity, but aging often gets left out of the conversation. As workers age, their needs evolve. Some employers face complaints of age discrimination when they don’t optimize their workplace and culture to accommodate and include older employees. This is a great reason to adapt your areas and policies.

Read more: Workplace Design with Older Workers in Mind

6 | Offer Standing Desks as an Option

Office trends are a dime a dozen, but some manage to stand the test of time. Standing desks are a great example. Sales continue to rise as workers discover the fun and health benefits involved. They’re offered in many styles and price ranges, so why not offer your workers the option? It’s by offering options like these that you’ll see retention increase, along with your team’s productivity.

Read more: Are Standing Desks Still Trending?

7 | Plan a Safe and Sustainable Office

If you’d like your workers to feel safe in an era of uncertainty while staying eco-friendly and keeping everyone generally happy, you may feel that you’re constantly juggling demands to craft that perfect dream office. But each of these three areas matter, since employees will enjoy coming to work. The investment will be worthwhile.

Read more: Three Points to Consider When Planning the Modern Office

8 | Reduce Workplace Loneliness

Surrounded by coworkers, employees still demonstrate an increase in feelings of loneliness. Instead of in-person meetings, they #slack message. Instead of socializing after hours, they watch Netflix. Facilities Managers can help by spearheading volunteer projects, networking opportunities, and redesigning workspaces that foster engagement.

Read more: 5 Ways to Reduce Workplace Loneliness

9 | Replace Stress with Wellness

Occasionally we not only get sick of work but sick from work—because our workspace invites stress and tension. But there are dozens of tricks to turn any office into a wellness haven. Most are inexpensive, easy to set up, and offer immediate dividends. And many companies take “thinking outside the box” literally by arranging outdoor work areas to escape the office burnout.

Read more: Nine Workplace Wellness Ideas for Facilities Managers

10 | Inspire Yourself to Inspire Others

Sometimes workers fear what the future holds for their jobs. A great manager shows they care not just through physical workplace changes but also by inspiring their team. A few encouraging words go a long way. Dunder Mifflin leader Michael Scott gives this comforting advice: “People will never be replaced by machines. In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake."

Read more: 17 Inspirational Workplace Quotes

by Choi Chow

Three Points to Consider When Planning the Modern Office

As employees get older (and younger), cultural norms shift, and technology advances, workspaces need to evolve. Here’s what you need to know to maintain a modern office through 2020 and beyond.

In today’s modern office, where so much business is done digitally, it’s easy to overlook how physical things like office chairs, desks, and meeting spaces can impact communication and encourage creativity. Entering Q4, many businesses are planning workplace moves, adds, and changes that will best suit their office, people, and customer needs for the next three to five years.

Office workers and businesses who find themselves inside facilities that are ill-equipped to handle modern challenges may be putting their profits and their employees at risk. Given the latest shift away from the open office trend and concerns about worldwide events like climate change, it can be harder than ever for offices to have a plan in place to adequately address these issues when they impact everything from reception areas to company culture.

While some changes to the modern office space might be minor, there are many considerations that can only be handled at a larger scale and require longer-term planning.

Here are some major components to consider as you figure out your future facilities needs and ensure a positive space for your business to thrive.

1. Safety in a Modern Office Is Critical

An August 2019 survey from the American Psychological Association reported that many Americans are experiencing increased stress about mass shootings in public places.

While most Americans are stressed about threats at open spaces, like public events or malls, places of employment are often vulnerable to the same stressors and threats due to the level of access that non-employees receive.

Different types of businesses require different levels of access, but facilities managers looking to respond to this threat might reconsider their office design and layout. Many businesses have created response plans for active shooters, but preparedness doesn’t have to stop with open dialogue and simple conversations.

Technology solutions like cameras, sensors, and alarms are a simple, no-nonsense addition to any modern office for a variety of reasons. While you’ll want to be sure to respect employee privacy, creating new layers of security to protect your organization and your office workers may lower stress and put troubled minds at ease.

2. Sustainability: More Than Recycling

The evidence surrounding climate change is overwhelming, but that’s not the only reason to look at reviewing sustainability standards around your modern office.

The drive for increased sustainability has paved the way for office products which are both environmentally and energy-efficient. Inside the office, basic changes in the work environment, like dynamic LED lighting or energy-efficient heating and cooling can make all the difference in the office overhead and carbon footprint.

The 2017 BIFM Sustainability Survey also points to emerging trends that facility managers should consider. Survey respondents indicated that adapting sustainability principals is good because it helps with resource and cost management (66%), gives businesses the opportunity to meet customer expectations (62%), and allows organizations to align with legislative compliance (57%).

Planning and engaging in conversations around sustainability can help facilities managers push initiatives that create a more efficient office. For businesses looking to upgrade to new facilities in the coming years, focusing on building-wide features like modern insulation and up-to-date electrical systems within the building may account for huge savings beyond the modern office cubicle.

3. Satisfaction and Quality of Work Life (QWL) Really Matters

There is a big push for quality of work-life improvements in modern office facilities, and there are many reasons for it—participation and productivity among them.

Modern office spaces are an essential component when it comes to employee satisfaction. That’s because office workers spend a large portion of their lives at their desk or in a meeting room.

Perhaps the most fundamental question for anyone looking to encourage creativity, collaboration, and productivity through office design is this: Are office workers really satisfied? Does the current office design meet their needs?

It’s not just about comfort, either. It’s also about data, data, data. As interconnectedness of personal devices and social media brings an abundance of new tools and information flow into the workplace,it poses facilities with the challenge of balancing the security of the business with individual privacy concerns.

If you take it too far and don’t provide employees with a way to access and interact with social media platforms, you may find disgruntled employees. It’s important to ensure that your company culture is flexible enough to accommodate employee professional development needs for a positive workplace environment and maximum worker productivity.

Planning a Bright Future for Your Modern Office

While you probably don’t need flat-screen monitors for every meeting room to create the premier office layout, there’s no doubt that employee needs are evolving, and the list of workplace facilities essentials have changed.

As we've discussed, it is more important than ever for businesses to create a safe, attractive and sustainable space. Facilities managers today should also keep current trends in mind when planning ahead.

For example, a recent article from Entrepreneur points to the strong aversion by Millenials and Gen Z to the idea of a cubicle or confined office work space. Your workplace layout must not only consider the needs of newer generations, but also make room for workers remaining in the workforce past retirement age, be immersed in company culture, and provide alternatives to the open office.

Reconfiguring your workspace for what the modern office needs is process that takes time and effort, but it's an investment that will pay for itself.

by Choi Chow